Mary’s Monday Metazoan: menial work in natty attire

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1. 1
   

   birgerjohansson

   30 July 2012 at 8:50 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Mud wasp nests are good for dating rock carvings/paintings on surfaces.
   I am a bit surprised by the length of the very thin midriff. All the diameter must be taken up by the gut plus blood vessels.

2. 2
   

   McC2lhu does not have gerseberms

   30 July 2012 at 8:53 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   If your waist was that thin you could claim to be another Jenny Craig success story! I don’t know if the black and yellow would be a look that zoots you, though.

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   The Flailing Rage Monkey: Caerie

   30 July 2012 at 9:18 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Absolutely gorgeous shot.

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   Glen Davidson

   30 July 2012 at 10:14 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Those stripes tend to make one look fat.

   Unless, that is, one is a wasp-waisted gal.

   Glen Davidson

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   epicure

   30 July 2012 at 10:59 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   “Those stripes tend to make one look fat.”

   Not according the the QI TV programme – they say research has shown the opposite to be true!

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   fastlane

   30 July 2012 at 11:40 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   I don’t know if the black and yellow would be a look that zoots you, though.

   I see what you did there.

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   ChasCPeterson

   30 July 2012 at 12:43 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Daub it!
   (hmmm, actually it seems that mud daubers are in a different…uh…superfamily! huh.)

   All of the insect characteristics are nicely on display here: shiny waterproof exoskeleton, three compound segments, each with specialized appendages including antennae, mandibles, 6 walking legs, and a stinger, plus wings (which are not ‘appendages’ but extensions of the exoskeleton).
   If they weren’t size-limited we would be bowing to them, our Masters.

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   David Marjanović

   30 July 2012 at 2:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   three compound segments

   The compounds are called tagmata.

   a stinger

   Few insects have that – though of course more have the ovipositor it’s derived from, and all have some kind of limbs at the end of the abdomen, usually with genital functions.

   wings (which are not ‘appendages’ but extensions of the exoskeleton)

   Wings are a pterygote feature, not an insect feature, and in terms of development genetics and history they do seem to be derived from parts of branched limbs, except the history hasn’t been quite worked out yet.

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   keithpeterson

   30 July 2012 at 3:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Wait. Why is evolution selecting for wasps with such a thin body plan?

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    Menyambal --- Sambal's sockpuppet

    30 July 2012 at 3:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    Whaddaya mean, you’re not hauling mud? You are a college prof and the proprietor of this blog. One of those has to count.

    As a sometime aerodynamicist, I am guessing the long body midsection serves to keep the rearmost section out of the downdraft from the wings.

    As a sometime engineer, I am guessing the long body midsection serves to keep the rearmost section out as a counterbalance when handling pellets of mud out in front of the body. You can see that the midsection is kinked under and the pellet is held close. As the hovering wasp extends the pellet out to put it on the structure, the midsection can be rotated out from under, extending the rear body as a counterbalance.

    Or both.

    (Sorry I didn’t memorize the proper terms for the parts. Thanks for listing them.)